When Do You Round Up or Down with 5?

[mcnealymt]

Homework Statement

I'm very confused as to when your supposed to add up or down when a number follows a five.

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

For instance, round 5.65 to 1 decimal. THe answer is 5.6, isn't this because when an even number is followed by a five you round down?

However, I was always told that 5.65 rounded to 1 decimal place is simply 5.7

 

[mfb]

Usually, 5 is rounded up.
In computer science, "round down everything (including .9)" is common, and "round .5 to the nearest even number" is used, too (this can reduce rounding errors later).

 

[SteamKing]

I've always rounded up when the last digit is 5-9. Thus 5.65 = 5.7. In my experience, this is customary unless a special rule is imposed for a certain situation.

There is a lengthy article here about different types of rounding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rounding

 

[Yanick]

I've always done rounding 5 to the even number. Reasoning being that over the course of multiple rounding events you will round some up and some down thereby minimizing the skew to either direction.